Comfort Suites Grayslake near Libertyville North — Hotel in Grayslake

During my trip I was trying to book the same hotel I stayed at last time I came to the Grayslake area, but I happen to book this one instead of the hotel I stayed at last time. However, since I ended up booking the wrong hotel ill review this in “Comfort Suites Grayslake near Libertyville North”.

Room First appearances When I first walked into the room I was greeted with a light switch on the right that only lit the overhead light and the bathroom and a wall mirror on the right. One of the first things I noticed was that the floor didn’t have carpet, was laminate flooring, while this is great for hypoallergenic purposes, carpet absorbs sound batter. Another thing I noticed was that the AC/Heat was set to high which I assume was to help circulate the air in the room so that it's not so stale. The desk and beds were nicely made, and everything seemed presentable. While this was not the most expensive hotel there were some unlevel spots in the flooring that were noticeable by looking at the floor and other by walking over it. As for the damages in the room there didn’t appear to much noticeable damages in the room from scratches, discoloration, or dents in the walls.

Closet In the closet I found an ironing board, iron, access panel for the shower plumbing, a laundry bag with a hanger, a wire rack to hang up items to which there were a few hangers to hang up your items. There was also a sleeper sofa mattress pad, fitted sheet, and pillow. That closet was not as big as some of the other closets I have seen. One thing that I would like to have had that I don’t see is a suitcase folding stand where I can elevate my suitcase so I don’t have to lay my suitcase on the coach, chair, bed or table.

Other Noticeable things There was a microwave that was clean, the fridge was for the most part cold ( nothing in there to aid in the cooling), the air filter (x2) that were in the AC/Heater was dusty which with my allergies didn’t do very well. The Windows shade was chain driven, there was 2 shades 1 for blackout and one for mesh so you can have the shade open to lets light in but still have some privacy. Not all the light blubs in this room were the same. Some were daylight and some soft white.

Bathroom The bathroom was found to be very spacious. The counter tops were clean, the mirror didn’t show any streaks. The toilet was cleaned. There was some discoloration on the walls. A small water like stain that was in the shower, there were several chips out of the tube which made it less appealing. The hair drier was located on the bottom shelf of the sink/vanity. The bath tub had what appeared to be slip resistance things on the bottom of the tub. The shower curtain is what I could consider the standard shower curtain that you would find at many hotels. The bathroom floor was tile which was expected but it was nice looking. I didn’t see any cracks in the tile which was nice. One thing I liked was that the shower curtain rod was curved which allowed for light and room in the shower. One thing that I noticed was that during my week stay that the shampoo / conditioner and bars of soap was replace after day 2 even though I didn’t need it. The band of soap they use is RAIO. The water pressure was not as high as I would have liked while it was enough to do the job I did have to wait a little longer to wash all the soap out my hair. The walls around the toilet could have been cleaned better as it looks like something might have splashed on the wall and during my whole stay it was there. There was also a crack in the bottom of the toilet which while it not causing any issues did look dirty and could make someone feel like the room was not a clean as it could be.

Location: Location seemed to be a good location other than the fact there is only one-way in and out of this place. The only way to get into this hotel is going east on 120th (E Belvidere Rd). There is a divider curb that forces you do a U-turn if coming...

Run Down, But Serviceable

First, the good news:

• They rooms are reasonably clean. • The blackout curtain only let in significant light on one side. • The room is relatively quiet, you really only hear of someone slams a nearby door or talks loudly in the hall. • They have an actual free, hot breakfast. Like eggs, breakfast sausage, and a waffle maker. • For a hotel, the bed is relatively soft. It has some kind of topper on it.

Now the bad news :

• While it is not dirty, the place is very run down. One gets the impression they decided to maintain only what they absolutely had to. • When I entered the room, the air conditioner was "on", but not running. The thermostat was set to 66°, but the room was 77°. The person at the desk said to go up and press the reset button on the outlet. I didn't even have to explain, apparently this is so normal that she knows what the problem is. Even after pressing it, it took about 20 minutes for the AC to come on. It's one of those antique under-window units, and I don't think it plays well with the modern thermostat. • The elevator looks like it was involved in an action movie. The doors and walls are battered, scraped, dented, just generally abused and then never maintained or fixed. They would look more appropriate in an old, seedy motel. • There are four tiny, square pillows on each bed, rather than two normal, rectangular pillows. They are nice and soft, without being so weak your head sinks right through them, but that they are small and square is still a bit awkward to sleep on. • there was some condensed moisture on the linoleum floor in front of the mini fridge. And similar spots in the hall and downstairs. Not sure what's going on with that. • I have noticed that, usually, good hotels like I thought this was tend to have actual light switches. But this one has more the cheap motel scenario, where there is one light switch that only lights up the foyer, and then you have to go around the room searching for the tiny switches on poorly-placed lamps. • The towels are not the most sandpaper-like that I have encountered in a motel, but they are close. • I paid more, for a "suite". To me, that means at least two rooms. I'm not sure if having a couch in the same room as the beds, but with a sort of token cubicle barrier between them, counts as a suite. I'm pretty sure the Holiday inn that had no vacancies, would have given me a multi-room suite like I'm used to. • perhaps in an actual suite, the microwave oven's clock would not be visible from the bed. I had to stick something over it so it would not be shining during the night.

This would actually be normal quality for a motel, but not a hotel, much less one with "suites" in the name.

I can see why, on Independence Day, this was the only hotel in the area where I could find a room. It is perfectly serviceable for sleeping, but not up to the standard that I was looking for.

And I guess it's not the hotels fault, but the local government bureaucracy, that there are enormous concrete dividers keeping you from turning into the hotel anywhere nearby, so you have to drive some distance down the road, find an opening,...

I was assigned a room right next to the elevators. That made me nervous at first, but I didn't hear a thing through the night from the elevators, so kudos! That was wonderful compared to some other hotels I've stayed at in a similar position. I'm local and was only staying there for 2 days since I was having construction done on my home and had 6 hours of meetings scheduled, so needed somewhere quiet to work. I preferred the idea of a hotel room over the car in Starbucks' parking lot.

When I got into the room (room 222) the door wouldn't close. It got close, but wouldn't latch. I shouldered the door and it closed, so I didn't think much of it after closing the bolt and the slider.

I went to bed, thinking I would be avoiding the construction noises by my place and not having to go to a Starbucks and sit in my car to handle 6 hours of meetings. I woke up around 4:30 as the fire alarm chirped at me. Loudly. Very loudly. I woke up immediately and, in my not so public clothes, stepped into the hall to find out if there was a fire. Then I heard the chirp again from my room, but nothing outside it. So I got dressed and went to the front desk.

Front desk interrogated me, assuming I was smoking while I was sleeping. Then she wanted to know exactly how many chirps I'd heard and exactly how much time happened between them, since, obviously, I'd taken the time to count and time everything when I thought the hotel was burning down and woke 4 hours before I'd set my alarm.

I left right after that, packing my bag and leaving. I told the front desk I'd let the manager know what happened when they were awake (an impossible task, I'd discover in 4 hours).

When I tried to submit something to the website, the contact failed due to unknown reasons, so I called the hotel. The front desk wouldn't let me talk to the manager, but was generous enough to refund my non-refundable night that was supposed to happen tonight. He helped me out with my awful stay by saying everything was resolved with me not having to pay for a night I would never stay at that location.

I've been in the service industry for nearly a decade before getting my current job, and I would love it when a complaint came up because that was an opportunity to create a fan and a life long customer if handled right. The fact that y'all didn't do maintenance on your fire alarms is concerning, sure, but if the staff had responded in a way that didn't make me feel like a criminal, this rating would probably be a 10.

It's not. It's a 1. Never again, and I will tell this story to whoever will listen to it....